Surprise
by Lilly V
Summary: Begins before No Mercy. We have all the facts surrounding Katie Fick's death, don't we? I mean...she's dead, right? Or else she'd have someone helping Kane out...
1. Wednesday

Hunter and Flair entered the bar; searching for the table in the corner they'd been told to meet at. A waitress directed them to the solitary woman with a half finished glass of red wine in front of her. 

"I thought I told you to come alone," she smirked at Hunter. "This doesn't look like alone."

Hunter replied with a knowing grin of his own. "I never go anywhere without backing. You should know that."

"I did," Tori Powers replied with a smirk in her eyes. "That's why she's here."

Hunter and Flair turned around to see the person Tori was talking about. "Stephanie," Hunter growled at the woman.

"It's just business, Hunter," she sat down beside Tori, who was in the process of setting several file folders on the table. "Now, why don't you two sit down and hear us out?"

Hunter and Ric sat down across the table from the women. The bar was nearly empty. Of course, it was very early on a Wednesday night, so that was to be expected. The girls would choose somewhere private to talk, especially with Tori's flair for the dramatic. "So what's this...proposition.you have for Hunter?" Ric asked.

"This Sunday, you have a match with Kane. You've spent the past few weeks digging up ghosts from his past and accusing him of murder. Well Hunter, I've done some digging of my own. And, thanks to an anonymous source," Tori half grinned at Steph, "I've found enough information to have you put away for quite a long time."

"What are you talking about?"

Tori opened the top folder. "Purchase records of anabolic steroids, crack-cocaine, heroin and 7 other illegal substances. Reports of public and private property damage, a hit and run car accident, attempted rape, attempted rape while victim was involuntarily and unknowingly under the influence of illegal substances. Taking hits out against three different people with the explanation of 'their egos were getting too big.'

"One of these three, might I add, was against your own former girlfriend Chyna. You hired Christopher Jericho to 'take care of her slowly', which led to his torture of her where her hand was smashed with a hammer. You basically told Jericho to dissect her one piece at a time. That, however, is not in the records. It is in both the audio and video recordings of you and Jericho finalizing the deal, which I also have in my disposal and can at any point order the release of.

"And I will release them, Hunter, unless you do three things. First, I want you to drop all accusations against Kane. Secondly, I want a fair fight. No sledgehammers, no HIM," she indicated Flair, "at ringside. And third...I want you to bleed."

Hunter was close to fuming. "This is blackmail," he snarled at the two women. "This is blackmail and I will have you both..."

"You'll have us what Hunter?" Steph smiled. "Arrested? What about how you blackmailed Tori here into dating X-Pac? Don't you think the world would be interested in that?"

"Speaking of which, Hunter, I think there's something else you have to know," Tori handed Hunter the second folder. "This is the police file on Katie Fick. For some reason, Kane was told different results from this. Kane was told that Katie died on impact. We both know, since we've both seen this, that Katie was rushed to the hospital while Kane was still unconscious. That Katie didn't die that night, or the next night. In fact, there's never any record of Katie Fick's actual death."

"Who cares?" Flair raged. "It's not like she can do anything about any of this! Even if she's not dead, she's not with Kane now! She hasn't let him know she's still alive. To him, she's dead. In his mind, he killed her. So the little bitch has been killing Kane slowly for the past ten years. Where ever she is she obviously wants to see this happening or she would have stopped it!"

Tori closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she handed the final folder over to both Hunter and Flair.

There was a long, solemn pause. Then Hunter growled at Tori and stood up. "I'll think about it," Hunter snarled, throwing the papers back at Tori and his ex-wife. "Maybe you'll be surprised."


	2. Sunday

Tori sat in a different bar that Sunday night. She'd found a sports bar where they'd show the Pay Per Views and she could just kick back and relax while watching them. She ordered a beer and then placed her cell phone on the table. Just in case Hunter felt rebellious she had a friend or two waiting for her call. 

As the match drew closer and closer, Tori felt the unease she used to before heading out the ring. What if it didn't go according to plan? She'd already changed her life around so much, was she ready to completely change again? Could she make herself do it?

That's when the phone rang.

She picked it up, curious as to whom would be calling her now.

Hunter's voice came from the other end. "You're bluffing," he laughed before hanging up.

Tori set down her phone in shock. "He wouldn't," she whispered.

He did.

The match started off fine, back and forth fair fight. Tori watched the screen intently while holding her phone just in case..

Flair showed up.

Tori inhaled deeply and angrily as the dirtiest player in the game came running down to the ring to aid Triple H. Hurricane came down to even the odds, but it was too late. The damage had been done. So of course, she wasn't shocked when Flair showed up with the sledgehammer, nor when Triple H left the ring without a drop of blood on his body.

Tori picked up her phone and searched for the first of the numbers. When she found it she quickly pressed send.

"Raven? It's Tori. Look, you know that packet I gave you last week? I need you to open it and follow the directions to the letter. Basically I need you to get a few tapes out of a safety deposit box. Yeah, don't worry; just get one copy of the video to the production team for RAW tomorrow night. Uh-huh, you'll be fine. Thanks."

The second call was answered by voicemail. "Hey, Chris, it's Tori. Look, I'm sorry, but that tape's going to be shown tomorrow night on RAW. It has to be done. Don't worry; Steph's got you covered legally. Call me back. Bye."

"Steph? You saw? Yeah, you know what to do. That entire file goes right to your dad. Uh-huh. Thanks Steph! Oh, and by the way, give Chris Jericho a call."

"Mr. Bischoff?" The final call began. "This is Victoria Powers, I used to wrestle for the WWF.E.whatever. I have some information I'd like to share on your program tomorrow night...You're not interested? What if I said I could get you ratings like you wouldn't believe?...Alright, what if I said that if you don't take me up on this deal I'm going to pitch it to Stephanie McMahon on Smackdown and I know she'll agree to it...Really? You'll have someone pick me up at the airport tomorrow morning? Oh, good. And by the way, Raven's going to deliver something to the production team tomorrow and it really should be shown. It's something I think the fans deserve to know. Right, I'll see you tomorrow Mr.Bischoff.Eric."

Tori hung up with a smile of satisfaction on her face. "Triple H is in for a big surprise."


	3. Monday

"What the hell is SHE doing here?" Hunter asked Bischoff before RAW. Tori was in the General Manager's office, wearing a knit cap, a leather jacket and a pair of tight blue jeans. 

"She's here because I asked her to be, Hunter. She says she has some information to share with the audience tonight," Eric tried to calm down the angry champion. "Now, what do you want?"

"Kane's demanding a rematch. I'm not giving some murdering son of a bitch a rematch! I shouldn't have to fear for my life in the ring!"

Eric paused and thought for a moment. "Hunter, I can see where you're coming from. But if I'm going to get ratings out of a rematch.and enough ratings to out do Stephanie."

Tori interrupted. "Mr. Bischoff? Why don't you wait until later tonight to make any kind of decision? I mean, there may be a few things that become clearer tonight. And besides, I don't think you should make Hunter fight if he's going to fear for his life in the ring. The only way I see to solve that problem is to prove Kane's not a murderer." She smirked.

Hunter smirked back. "Are you sure you want to do that Tori? I mean, what if the public finds out what I know about you?"

"What if they do? What makes you think I care anymore Hunter? I lived under the tyranny of DX for longer than I should have all because you had a little bit of evidence on me. I let you blackmail me into hurting people. Now, I honestly don't care if people find out what you know. It's over. It ends, tonight. As soon as Kane gets here."

The RAW intro cued up and the fans went wild. But, instead of hearing any kind of rousing entrance music right off the bat, the arena went black and a video began to air on the Titantron.

"_Jericho, listen, I'm glad you agreed to do this," Hunter said to Jericho. "I need her taken care of, and now. And I'm will to compensate well for your troubles."_

_"I really don't know," Jericho replied. "Can't I just take her belt off of her?"_

_"No, Chris. Chyna's getting dangerous. She's the first female to ever win the IC belt. That kind of thing can go to your head. I don't want her ego getting out of control."_

_"You don't ever want her to be better than you?" Jericho asked, smugly. "I understand, but I don't see why I have to.hurt her."_

_"Not just hurt her, Jericho! I want her dissected, piece-by-piece! I want her broken open, destroyed! I don't want you to let one part of her body recognizable when you're done. Go as slowly as you want, I don't care. But the further you're willing to go, the further you're going to get in this company. Understood?"_

_Jericho tentatively reached out and shook Hunter's hand, sealing the deal._

The video ended and the crowd began to boo loudly. The lights came back up to reveal Chris Jericho, mike in hand, beard shaved.

"What you just saw happened quite awhile ago," Jericho began. "Triple H asked me to destroy his ex-girlfriend Chyna in order to keep her from every reaching the heights he had. You may be wondering why, if that tape is real, Chyna is even still alive. Well, it's for the same reason every single chance I've had in this federation has been taken away from me.

"I chickened out and couldn't finish the job. I destroyed her thumb and part of her hand, but that was all I could ever do. Chyna was one in a million. I don't regret backing out. But the important thing is that Hunter doesn't even regret hiring me to destroy her. That's your champion, a sick, twisted, bastard. I'd fear for my life if I got into the ring against him."

That was when Hunter attacked him from behind.

Later that night, Hunter went to Bischoff and begged for a chance to fight Jericho, and Bischoff agreed, saying that Kane had already declined a rematch for that night.

Besides, Kane was headed to meet Tori in the ring after she'd called him out.

Standing face to face with her ex-boyfriend, Tori felt nausea in the pit of her stomach. What she was about to do was possibly the greatest and the cruelest thing she'd ever done in her life.

"Hi Kane. Long time," she started out. He huffed and started to come towards her, but she threw her hands up to stop him. "Please, Kane, I'm not here to try and hurt you anymore than I already have. Actually, I'm here to try and clear up a few things about Katie Fick." The crowd went wild at the mention of the name. "Just a few details from the night of the accident. First off, Katie.that night.did she.have her hair done like this?"

Tori pulled off the cap to show her hair pulled back into an elaborate twist. Kane's eyes widened in shock and then narrowed at her, as if he thought she were trying to embarrass him.

"Kane, please.did she?"

Kane nodded.

"Okay.well, then.the night of the accident.was Katie wearing something like this?" She dropped the jacket to show she was wearing a tight white blouse with the jeans. There was a thin silver chain around her neck, but Kane couldn't quite make out what was hanging from it.

Once more, Kane nodded. Then he wiggled his fingers as if he were looking for a chokeslam.

"Kane, one last thing.well, actually, several things all leading up to one question. When Katie 'died', did they give you any of her jewelry.something you'd bought her? I dunno.a charm bracelet maybe? Because anywhere she'd go to see you wrestle she'd buy a charm, but never bought a charm bracelet? So you gave in and bought her the nicest one you could afford and gave it to her the Christmas before she went away?

"But there was something else they never gave you Kane. The gift you gave Katie the night of the accident. The ring with the engraving inside of it."

Kane's eyes suddenly widened in complete and total shock. "Nobody..." he choked, "knew about that."

"Except you and Katie. Now Kane, last time we dated you told me NOTHING about Katie Fick. You wouldn't talk about her because you thought you'd killed her. Kane...you didn't. I have a file, the same one Triple H has, that proves Katie did not die on impact. She didn't die in the hospital. They released her, Kane, as cut up as she was they released her. She's alive, Kane."

The crowd roared in shock.

Kane shook his head. "You're lying. He brought you here." Kane charged her and grabbed her by the throat. Then, realizing what he was doing, he let her go. "He brought you here to prove he was right. I'm an animal. But I'm not." Kane turned to leave.

Tori slowly pulled on the chain around her neck until a simple silver ring showed at the end. Then, slowly she said into the mike "Our fire will always burn."

Kane stopped halfway up the ramp. He turned around slowly, as if not wanting to believe what he'd just heard. Deliberately, he walked back into the ring to face Tori, who was frozen in position, holding the chain with the ring at the end of it.

Kane faced her, then simply choked out.

"Katie?"

Tori, tears in her own eyes, grinned at him. "Surprise."


End file.
